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Home > News & Events > CLA Today Archive > Summer-Fall 2001 : Luises come home to the U

Luises come home to the U…again and again

by Jessica Breed

If you think Nita Luis (B.A. '74, history; J.D. '77) looks familiar, you've probably seen her at a University event. Even if you don't instantly recognize her beaming smile, you may have read about her in an issue of M, or visited with her or her husband Rick Luis (J.D.'74) at a women's hockey or men's basketball game. Perhaps you bumped into her while lobbying for the University at the state capitol, sat next to her at a Critical Dialogue, or saw her last time you visited the McNamara Alumni Center.

She's served on the executive board of the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) Alumni Society for the last six years and is described by CLA Dean Steven Rosenstone as "one of our college's most loyal ambassadors." Benefactors as well, Nita and Rick Luis have given generously of their time, money, and energy. Their gifts for scholarships will allow future generations of students to enjoy the educational excellence the Luises have helped to sustain with their unflagging support.

Nita Luis says that when she first became involved as an alumna in 1984, she was thrilled to be back on campus and to be "thinking about liberal arts in a way that had been unexamined. Of course you lived them but you didn't really think what liberal arts meant until coming back to the college. To be part of that conversation again, to discover that some favorite professors were still around and you knew your way around campus for the most part—it really was like coming home.”

As associate general counsel for United Health Group, Luis credits much of her professional success and personal happiness to her undergraduate education. Though she didn't always know where it would take her, she never had any doubts about earning a liberal arts degree: "I was a history major and I had no idea what I was going to do with it. But I loved history, and I let the job market take care of itself afterwards.”

After graduating and working for the State of Minnesota for two years, she enrolled in the Law School. "There weren't many women role models,” she says, but she met her future husband, Rick Luis. "We were introduced by a friend under the premise that I could tell her what she was getting into. But we didn't talk too much about law that night,” says Rick, laughing. In the summer of 1977, Nita passed the bar exam and the couple married.

Rick Luis, an administrative law judge for the State Office of Administrative Hearings, shares Nita's interests in volunteering and world travel. Says she, "We like to travel anywhere we haven't been before. Our only rule is to avoid war, pestilence, and famine.”

Yet they don't avoid political turmoil. Arriving in South Africa just after Nelson Mandela's release from prison and just before his election to office, the Luises met with legal officials who were swept up in radical changes. "We were told this law had changed three months ago, that one had changed six months ago, and this one was being changed,” they recall. "It was a very heady time.”

As lifelong students, the Luises do their homework beforehand to make the most of their travels, such as a recent trip to Turkey. "I can't imagine going to Turkey without knowing who Ataturk is,” says Nita.

And sometimes, they bring a professor along. Political science professor emeritus John Turner recalls accompanying the Luises and a group of attorneys to the former Soviet Union. "They were wonderful travel partners,” Turner says, "both curious and civil. I always enjoy spending time with alumni.”

Nita Luis agrees that the people are the greatest benefit of getting back in touch with the U. "Working on University things attracts interesting people,” she says. "I've really enjoyed my interaction with board members in CLA and UMAA. And it's fun to become reacquainted with former professors as peers and friends." She even shared the Northrop stage recently with a favorite professor, Theofanis Stavrou, when she spoke at commencement.

In tribute to her work as an alumni leader and volunteer, the University gave Nita Luis a "Hats Off" Award last year. She says volunteering is well worth it. Adds Rick, "Just being along for the ride and seeing the University's mushrooming support—it's been a very satisfying experience to observe and participate as much as we can.”